Turnovers, poor shooting hurt Janesville Vikings vs. Lancers

MADISON  The combo platter of poor shooting and turnovers was too much for Janesville Parker High School’s boys basketball team here Tuesday night.

Utilizing its full-court press, Madison LaFollette feasted on 14 first-half turnovers by the Vikings to run away from Parker for the 68-59 Big Eight Conference victory.

Parker (3-6, 1-6) made just a third of its shots in the first half (7 of 21), while the Lancers (4-5, 2-5) made 55 percent (12 of 24) to jump out to a 34-20 halftime lead.

“They were physical, and we

didn’t respond well to that,” Parker coach Ryan Masterson said. “It was just too big of a hole to come back from.”

Jordan Thompson, who led Parker with 17 points, gave the Vikings a 9-8 lead on the first of his three three-pointers. Jon Dybevik responded with 10 straight points for LaFollette, and the Lancers never relinquished the lead.

Dybevik finished with 15 first-half points and had 24 for the game.

Parker aided the run with its first-half turnovers and finished with 27.

“Early on, I thought our pressure really kind of rushed them and didn’t allow them to get comfortable,” LaFollette coach Reggie Williams said. “They are a good offensive team. So if you let them get comfortable, you’re in for a long night.”

Instead, it was a long night for Parker.

LaFollette pushed its lead to 58-33 in the third quarter on a Jaren Singh basket as the game turned sloppy and both coaches received technical fouls.

“I thought the officials let the game get out of control a little bit,” Masterson said of his technical, which came with 5:02 left in the third quarter.

The Lancers secured a 66-44 lead on two Dybevik free throws, before Parker closed with a 15-2 run.

“We didn’t run our press break correctly, and we didn’t run our offense,” Masterson said. “The first half was just a bad half for us. Coming in, we knew LaFollette was the most physical team in the Big Eight, but we just didn’t respond.”